Sep 25, 2018

Champions Tier List | Patch 8.19 | Solo Queue

SEASON 8 - PATCH 8.19

FASTEST RANKEDLP GAIN TIER LIST

"What Are the Best Champions to Climb With"

This solo queue tier list is used pick champions that will allow you to climb divisions the FASTEST by winning games consistently. This list also contains off-meta and counter-meta placements that do well against popular picks.

Patch 8.19

Buffs are the theme of this patch cycle, and high impact supports like Pyke and Thresh and getting the love. Meanwhile, Elise is making a comeback this patch with a few buffs to her kit just in time for an end of season run.

Instructions and Caveats:

Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly

Champions UNDERLINEDmay be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgment.

Within each tier, the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these champions are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.

Win Rates are important in analyzing each champion's strength but are not the end-all criteria for any champion's position.

Professional Picks may not necessarily translate into good picks for solo queue ladder, the two have slightly different meta-games and skill levels.

The creator of this list is diamond so there may be some personal bias towards higher tier play on certain champions.

God Tier: These champions are almost impossible to keep down. If your team doesn't make it a priority to shut down these champions and shut them down hard, even if they lose their lane, lose in CS, and it's their first time playing the champion, they can be a massive nuisance for your team. On the other hand, if they're actually good at the champion...that's when it's time to throw in the towel. Tier 1: These champions generally do very well regardless, and have some sort of advantage over most other champions. When they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory by utilizing one or more aspects of their late game utility. Tier 2: This is the Tier of balanced champions where Riot shoots to place their designs. These champions generally do well in their own right, and are very strong picks with a good chance of winning. However, they're not overpowered by any means and do have their weaknesses. Tier 3: These champions can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two. They may also have some weaknesses that can be capitalized on. Tier 4: These champions are either underpowered or offer less reward than other champions for the same amount of effort. These champions basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch. Chances of a comeback with one of these champions feeding on your team is almost none.

Champion Explanations

Darius [God Tier Top] - Darius in his previous patch form was already decent, but the latest buffs definitely bring him over the top. He now has higher armor penetration than ever, allowing him to kill both tanks and squishies with ease. The buff on his W also gives him the ability to scale even harder late game, At a 5-second base cooldown, the increased scaling is quite good.

Jarvan IV [Tier 1 Top] - Jarvan's cooldown reduction on his passive is clearly aimed at his laning phase, and this allows him a lot more room to trade with the enemy champion. With nearly twice as much pre level 6 poke ability, he can duel with a higher degree of confidence.

Kayle [Tier 1 Top] - For climbing the ladder, many players completely overlook Kayle as a result of her low mobility, old-school champion kit. However, her damage output with Lethal Tempo is borderline insanity, and her late game potential allows her to literally 1v5.

Kog'Maw (AP) [Tier 3 Mid] - The increased movespeed and R range definitely help out Kog'Maw's AP build a bit, but it's still not very good. His poke damage was not increased, and it just gives him a little more room against other long-ranger meta casters like Lux.

Lucian [God Tier Bot] - Ever since the slow movement back to high damage all-in supports like Leona and Alistar, Lucian's better than ever. The buffs to his Q last patch were awesome as well. Meanwhile, this patch we're seeing more Pyke and Thresh players than ever before (although I'm not sure how that's possible). As a result, Lucian is extremely good as a result of his powerful level two power spike and incredibly strong all-in abilities.

Miss Fortune [God Tier Bot] - What Miss Fortune doesn't have in terms of flash skills she more than makes up with her ease of use and absurd damage output. You'll often see a Kai'Sa all-in Miss Fortune and hit every spell, only to get outtraded by a single love tap empowered auto attack + double-up combo. While her six item potential isn't as high as many other marksmen, her early to mid game is generally enough to snowball games and prevent the full build spikes.

Rammus [God Tier Jungle] - Rammus is consistently overlooked for gaining LP. His gank pattern is super simple to execute, and any competent jungler should be able to pick him up with ease. Meanwhile, he provides powerful engage and an amazing frontline. The fact that everyone is playing AD based mid-laners is also incredibly good. If you're looking for an easy champion to gain LP, Rammus is your boy, ok?

Disclaimer:

The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for champion selection.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

If you're looking for a more meta based tier list based on popularity, be sure to check out the FOTM list as well!